#if you're at all interested i'd highly recommend though!

[nias-nook]

Bill Cipher and The Unicorn in Captivity

Soooo, I haven't been looking at Bill related posts much since the book dropped as I have mixed feelings on what TBOB and the subsequent site have revealed about him, his motives, his backstory etc., but (and maybe someone beat me to this) one thing I haven't seen anyone talk about yet is this,

So maybe I'm stating the obvious here, but this is The Unicorn Rests in a Garden, also known as The Unicorn in Captivity. This piece was a part of The Unicorn Tapestries. Its origins are shrouded in mystery and super interesting but I'm not really gonna touch on that here.

Now there is something to be said about how this one piece, and the rest of the tapestries tie to Bill. I'll briefly go over what the tapestry meant when it was made then dive into what contemporary interpretations of the piece say about Bill and his fundamental inability to redeem himself.

Also just want to establish before we get into this that I am...Not a scholar when it comes to this stuff. I just happened to recognise this tapestry and its symbolism when it dropped on the website and had to put my thoughts somewhere. I might add more later if I've forgotten anything, which I probably have.

Given this was a piece made in Europe in the Middle Ages, it's perhaps unsurprising that a lot of interpretations of it are biblical, but we can (mostly) safely assume Hirsch isn't going for a Christ allegory here. Then again, maybe he's going for nothing and all of this is pointless.

What is a little interesting in the wake of TBOB is its ties to marriage.

These tapestries are heavily theorised to have been made to celebrate a wedding, and their comparisons of love and marriage to a hunt that inevitably leads to the imprisonment and taming of your lover. Of course, Bill quite literally suggests this method in the book with The Love Cage that he uses in Weirdmageddon, but there's a million 'Billford is canon' posts (though I think that's reductive at BEST) out there so let's table that as it's pretty self-explanatory. Bill and Ford have been hunting each other for decades and Bill imprisons him in a so-called 'Love Cage' to try and convince Ford to be his 'partner' (be it platonic or romantic). This is what a victory in a relationship is to him.

What I'd like to focus on is the modern interpretation of The Unicorn in Captivity as a self-imposed prison.

"Look at that little unicorn! The beatific smile. He's happy now. He gets to live in a beautiful garden."

"Yeah, in a cage."

"A protective barrier. No one's hunting him anymore. Nor can he hurt anyone with that horn of his."

This summary of the piece is taken from the aptly titled Unicorn in Captivity from another animated series, The Venture Bros. (which, by the way, if you're looking for another show that's a whimsical and fun riff on 80s pop culture with a big mystery element, highly recommend), but this of course isn't the first piece of media to portray it this way. the most notable being The Unicorn in Captivity poem by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

The unicorn is, on the surface, a prisoner. The Theraprism that Bill is now trapped in is a place he longs to escape, but that's the thing, isn't it?

He could escape any time he wanted to.

Bill, like the unicorn, is trapping himself more than the Theraprism is trapping him, but his situation isn't to be pitied, it's karmic justice. What's so satisfying about Bill's eventual comeuppance is that he's the one making himself suffer. The only thing Bill needs to do to escape is to admit he was wrong, to stop revelling in the suffering of others, but...Well, he chooses not to.

He could slip his head

From the jewelled noose

So lightly tied -

If he tried,

As a maid could loose

The belt from her side;

He could slip the bond

So lightly tied -

If he tried.

For all of his guilt about his parents and his so-called 'dark and troubled past', Bill has never regretted a single person he's hurt since. He didn't regret taking over the world, he regretted being caught. He didn't regret hurting Ford, he regretted losing him. Bill will probably be doomed to wallow in the Theraprism for all eternity, cursing his situation and blaming everyone else for his inevitable downfall. An overgrown child who once had too much power and lost it all throwing a tantrum for the ages.

But now he can't hurt anyone with that horn of his.

[youresodarkbabe]

MAEVE CAN WE TALK ABOUT GIVING FETUS!ALEX HIS FIRST BLOWJOB!?!?!?! PLEASEPLEASE

okay, i'm heavily sleep deprived so here's just some ideas i have about this (maybe they'll turn into a fic, idk)

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

he'd go from awkward to a fucking mess so so fast. like blink of an eye fast.

"are you sure? you don't need to do this f'me," to being the loudest person in the vicinity.

whispered groans -> loud, whimper-y moans

god forbid your hair looked nice before, because it definitely wouldn't after! his hands would find your hair and STAY THERE.

him being too scared to tug on your hair and mess it up, but eventually pulling when his tip grazes the back of your throat.

he'd instantly apologize, being shocked when you tell him it's okay.

he'd be even more shocked if you told him to keep doing it.

thrusting into your mouth as he gets closer, mumbling apologies in between moans because he didn't mean to 'hurt you'. (all you did was gag, this man is just insane)

the eye contact.

especially before it actually starts, as you kiss your way down his clothed torso, his anxious eyes meeting your reassuring ones; as you press kisses to his cock, he'd look so interested, so genuinely baffled that someone like you would do this for someone like him.

the whining, the whimpers, the moans (i need him rn.)

whining if you tease him, "c'mon, be nice," and giving you a lil pout.

whimpering as he gets closer and closer, "please, feels s' good, fuck," his cute lil face all scrunched up because he's feeling too good and it's overwhelming him in the best ways possible.

moaning as you guide him through his high, too fucked out to form a single thought, his words mirroring his thoughts— just you.

praising and thanking you so much after.

"that was so good, god,"/"i wanna make it up to you"/"that was the best thing ever"

just being the biggest loser about it (i say this with love).

having to tell him you don't want him to return the favour, all you need is to be with him and you're happy.

him agreeing but already planning on when he'd give you what he owes you.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

i'm not really the best when it comes to fetus alex fics 😭 i'd highly recommend @goblinontour, though! her fetus al fics are <<33

[identifying-cat-phenotypes]

hihihi!! i LOVE LOVE LOVE cat genetics. where did you learn all you know about phenotypes?

hmm a lot of places! also, dont think i dont know who you are LMAOO jellyfish haii

my first foray into the world of cat genetics was probably this kitten generator on perchance! I just messed around with it for a while, trying to get my cat as a result, but eventually started actually experimenting with it! it is still incomplete, if anyone visits it, but its a good place to get the very basic foundations down.

i'd also suggest whatcoloristhatcat and felinefractus for their thoughts and cat genetics work! They do good stuff, and I've learned a lot from their thoughts on various cats, cat breeding as a whole, and some fun trivia! Good blogs, highly recommend them both!

Another resource I, and plenty of others, recommend is Sparrow's Garden! I don't really have much else to say on it, it's just a good resource.

I do suggest Messybeast for some basic stuff, but not as a resource for EVERYTHING they do on their site. It's good for basics and corrections, but you should not use this site as your only source. Research more about what they talk about, and don't take everything at face value.

and lastly, this simple overview of it all! the series by little hungry warrior on youtube! it was more of a refresher for me, but the present the information in such a way that stuck. It's a good way to get into the most basic and common cat genetics you'd see in your day-to-day life.

AGAIN, WE (me and Jay) ARE HOBBYISTS! I do not make 100% accurate claims sometimes! I learn from others, and my own research! please correct me when i make a mistake, and that includes information about resources I link! <3

signed, mod robin! hbu, mod jay?

Hi! I’m a lot newer into cat genetics than robin, but my first real foray into cat genetics was a series of images called ‘families for the warrior cats fan who doesn’t want to learn genetics’, about 2 years ago. it was really simplistic and doesn’t go into stuff like silver, smoke and rufousing, so it’s probably not the most helpful thing. (oh hey, i know this person! they help work on a silly Warriors redux i read! its good, check it out if you're a warrior cats fan! -robin)

HOWEVER. the most helpful thing for me (that actually got me interested in genetics) was the clangen mod genemod. It’s super helpful for looking at how genotypes affect phenotypes, and what each phenotype looks like without any influencing factors.

mod robin has pretty much covered everything else i might have linked though; but i’m seconding little hungry warriors youtube series! helpful to learn both the basics and the more complex stuff in a very digestible format !

🫡 - mod jay

[stashandtell]

Some Recommendations for Fics That Influenced My Weasley-Ship Rankings

I ranked all my favorite Hermione/X Weasley Sibiling in my most recent post Nobody Asked For This: My Rankings of the Hermione x Weasley Ships with REASONS. Here are some recs to back my completely biased opinons. And now, you can read my fic, Ranking the Weasleys on AO3! - - - - As I sometimes mention on the internet, I keep a WILDLY long and fairly detailed spreadsheet of all the fanfics I've read. I've not been in the fandom long at all but due to life circumstances, I've had too much time on my hands since diving in and have allowed this special interest to wash over me and my whole life like the warm, scented water in the Prefects' giant bathtub. (I hit over 800 works read on my spreadsheet a few days ago and am going to do a numerical analysis and breakdown no one requested, so come back for the data if you're curious.) I've pulled some of my fave fics for my main Hermione x Weasley Sibling pairings -- though I have SO MANY MORE. All of these are mid-length to longfics (~30K-100k+ words, except for one) and are complete, unless noted. Normally I'd copy-and-paste the author's summary but since I'm going to be recommending many here-- I'll give you my 1-3 sentence take on the fic and encourage you to read the author's summary and tags. We're going in descending birth-order by sibling here to keep things tidy: Billmione: What's nuts to me about the Billmione ship is that I don't have a ton of fics I would enthusiastically recommend that explain why I love this pairing so much. I'm not a huge werewolf-ish fan, the age-gap isn't something that inspires my reading that much, and, to be completely honest, sometimes Bill is dry toast in a fic and replaceable with almost any other character. That said, for those of us who love a rare-pair, we feast on the scraps. We love the moments that fuel our headcanons and it's the cumulative experience of developing our own understanding of these characters that drives us into the arms of these fics more than anything. I had a difficult time pulling general recs for this ship, only because so few encapsulate what's I love about Hermione and Bill together (in my mind) in a singular work. I'll keep searching though and plug away at adding my 3 Billmione WIPs to offerings out there, to keep the flag flying. To be perfectly clear: These are GREAT fics I highly recommend. I just don't think of any one of them as the touchstone fic for my love of this pair (imo.) Still Strong by DietCokeofEvil, inspired by I Am Strong by floatsdelicately

Word Count: 38,780 / 19 Chapters

Summary: When Ron leaves Hermione without an explanation a month before their wedding, Bill returns the friendship and care she gave him when he and Fleur separated. They fall in love and build a life together.

My Comments: I read I Am Strong first and I have to say, I loved the two stories together. It's maybe even worth reading I Am Strong before Still Strong because that's how the publishing/inspiration-order goes.

Through the Ages by LadyBlack3

Word Count: 30,301 / 11 Chapters

Summary: Hermione and Bill team up to help research possible causes for a disease spreading through Charlie's dragon reserve and find themselves drawn to each other.

My Comments: This is a fun fic with a plot that keeps things moving. I love them coming together as full-fledged adults with their own lives.

I was torn on recommending Cairo Nights by GillianSteele instead of Through the Ages because they're both excellent examples of this ship, so I'll drop it here as an honorable mention if you're looking for more!

- - - - Charmione: There are SO MANY good Charmiones on my list but I need limits. I would say none of these are exactly emblematic of the typical well-loved Charmione fics, as they don't spend time on the Reserve-- but if you're looking for more recs, feel free to ask me on tumblr or leave a comment and I can happily suggest many more. Last Christmas by KittenShift17

Word Count: 17,079 / One Shot

Summary: Last Christmas, Hermione drunkenly snogged Charlie when she mistook him for Ron and shortly after she broke up with him. This Christmas, she's back at the Burrow and anxious to see Charlie again after thinking about him all year.

My Comments: This was one of the very first Charmione works I read and I recommend it to most my friends looking to get into the ship. As a hefty one-shot, it's a pretty satisfying fic with great Weasley banter and it's on my list of fics to re-read this winter when it's time to get cozy around the holidays. If you like this, check out I Saw Mummy (mind the tag) by Amebb42. Last Christmas is the shortest of all the fics I'm recommending.

Creature Comforts by neilstic

Word Count: 34,588 / 5 Chapters

Summary: Hermione and Charlie are both Hogwarts professors and are into each other. They are also good friends who get to do some fun time travel exploration thanks to the secrets of the castle.

My Comments: This fic is SO well written and snort-out-loud funny. I think of it often and it's not the typical Charmione fic, which is why I wanted to shout it out.

The Eventually Ever After Series by Huffleclaws19 deserves an appreciation post on its own and I HIGHLY recommend it of you're a fan of Charmione and Theomione. It's worth reading it in order. Merry Christmas to Me (the first in the series) is already on my Top-Tier List of all-time faves but the whole series arc is so, so good. Consider this a MOST honorable mention.

- - - - Permione: The Always Series by Simply_Lovely_Reader consists of two stories: Unlikely, which is Hermione's POV and Possibly, which is Percy's.

Word Count: Unlikely - 15,537 / 11 Chapters Possibly - 26,754 / 13 Chapters

Summary: Percy catches Hermione pleasuring herself to thoughts of him in his bed in the Burrow immediately before they start working together at the Ministry. Romance and pining occur.

My Comments: I was overjoyed to find that there was a Percy POV fic for this story but if you only pick one, read Unlikley, which is Hermione's POV.

Reflector by Calebski

Word Count: 39,692 / 7 Chapters

Summary: Hermione seeks Percy's help in finding career her path after the war they're both so changed by. He finds himself seeking her out as well as they develop a friendship and so much more.

My Comments: This author wrote one of my all-time top 3, won't-shut-up-about-my-love-for-it fics, Flourishing Devotion, a Nevmione canon re-write. I really dig their style (Venus Flytrap, another Nevmione is great too.) This Permione delivered.

- - - - Fremione: Fremione recommendations tend to fall in to a few buckets, which often overlap 1) Fred Lives 2) Fred Dies, per the canon 3) Canon rewrites of Fred & Hermione developing feelings during the Hogwarts years There are several WONDERFUL canon re-writes I'll include a few as honorable mentions.

Salve Amor by moonfairy13

Word Count: 31,974 / 20 Chapters

Summary: Hermione saves Fred's life with a bonding spell that can only be cast by someone who carries love for the person they're saving. She doesn't want Fred to know or feel tied to her so of course miscommunications and meddling ensue.

My Comments: The author, moonfairy13, has so many great fics worth checking out. What was great about this one is that the whole fic centers around the Fred Lives turning point.

I Can Love You Like That by LSU Sweetie

Word Count: 31,357 / 12 Chapters

Summary: Fred and Hermione are the last two single people in their friend group at the winter holidays. Hermione wants a relationship and is interested in Fred but has also started to get gifts from a secret admirer.

My Comments: I love a grown-up Fred and Hermione. LSUsweetie has some great works with different pairings and I particularly absolutely freaking loved Festive Fates. This is worth reading because the pairing is undisclosed, so you gotta read it to find out. Paraphrasing the author's summary: Hermione ends up pregnant after a night with a mystery man at New Year's Eve masquerade party right before she has to leave for a year-long work assignment. When she returns the following Christmas, she brings a baby with red hair to the Burrow and hopes to find answers.

Honorable Mentions, Canon Rewrites:

Don't You Know You've Got the Best of Me by raquains

Deal or No Deal by LetticeDouffet

Steel and Soft Smiles by TricksterGhost7 and its companion work, Little Glimpses

Oh So Many Years by fanfictionaries*

The Two Dropouts by tryingsss*

*Denotes a partial canon rewrite (aka ends early or starts later) - - - - Geormione: There were several great Geormione pieces I wanted to recommend but both of my recs relate to navigating Fred's death in very personal ways. That has tended to be the majority of what I've been reading in the Geormione space though there are other dimensions to this ship worth checking out. Like Fremione, there are some great canon-rewrites as well.

I have not started tackling the behemoth that is The Arithmancer by White_Squirrel yet or the rest of the series, though it's queued up as a reward once I finish some very longfics I'm working through... so I know I've read a lower % of the total completed fics on AO3 in the "Hermione Granger/George Weasley" relationship tag than Billmione, Charmione, and Fremione.

To Those Who Wait by Fictionallizzy

Word Count: 56,233 / 9 Chapters

Summary: After Fred's death, Hermione and George spend a forbidden night together which leads to much more than they both expected.

My Comments: In my ridiculous spreadsheet, I give a rating for my personal love of the story and another for the spice level. This is one that has 5/5 on both counts, the smut smuts 💋 and there's some juicy angst in there (my fave.)

In Case You Don't Life Forever by xLoveMx

Word Count: 24,724 / 12 Chapters

Summary: After the battle, Hermione and George are together and apart in their grief. She tries to prepare WWW to reopen and they finds she has to deal with Fred's ghost literally and metaphorically.

My Comments: I've read a few ghost!fred fics but I really loved this one. It was hard to select just one George-Falling-In-Love-While-Grieving fic and the extra dimension Fred's ghost added to this story made it stand out for a recommendation.

- - - - Multi-Weasley Pairings: In fics with multi-Weasley ships, they tend to fall into three buckets: 1) Siblings in competition 2) Love triangle or triad (v-shaped or triangle-shaped) 3) Reverse harems or multiple hookup partners I basically had to read through the majority of all the enticing completed long fics with ALL of the individual siblings I wanted to read paired with Hermione before I started reading multi-Weasley fics. BUT I'm glad I went there because there are some really interesting works that I enjoyed. Here's a fic rec for each bucket: 1) Siblings in Competition: Yours Til The Stars Fall From The Sky by Ronsboggart

Pairings: Fremione, Charmione

Word Count: 64,178 / 7 Chapters

Summary: Hermione and Fred are going to be together until a chance meeting at the World Quidditch Cups finds her and Charlie inexplicably drawn to each other.

My Comments: Mind the tags! This fic definitely has the underage warning on it, which I totally understand isn't everyone's thing. That said, the story of Fred and Hermione falling for each other despite the magnet-pull of Charlie really got me on board with reading Fremione works. Truthfully, I sort of didn't "get" the appeal of Fred until I read this story and for that I'm so grateful. I ended up loving the characterization of Fred and Hermione's love so much in this fic, it's definitely worth it imo.

Honorable Mention: Hot Girl Summer (shorter one-shot) by Anonymous 2) Love Triangle / Triad (V-Shaped): Hic Scunt Dracones by Amebb42 & ShadowAlt

Pairings: Billmione, Charmione

Word Count: 118,498 / 29 Chapters

Summary: On a curse-breaking expedition in a tropical paradise, Charlie, Bill, and Hermione find themselves working a case that puts them face to face with old magic. Both brothers find they care for the same woman and try to encourage her to choose between them.

My Comments: If you read my Ranking the Weasleys post, you know that I don't give a toss about dragons half the time and I REALLY loved the dragon storyline here. I sing the praises of Amebb42 in just a bit but ShadowAlt also has great stories. I enjoyed reading their author's notes in this too.

3) Reverse Harem: Where the Heart Is by Mother_of_Chaos

Pairings: Billmione, Charmione, Fremione, Geormione

Word Count: 40827 / 12 Chapters

Summary: Hermione, who has special abilities and works as an Unspeakable, receives a claiming werewolf bite while helping save a member of the Weasley family and becomes part of their pack.

My Comments: This work was recently completed this past August and was inspired by The Weasley Pack by Mrsmarauders02. Both are worth reading and center around werewolf and pack power. Mind the tags!

Reverse Harem Honorable Mention: Weasley Magic by Amebb42 I included only completed fics here but I have to shoutout the WIP that lives in head rent-free on a regular basis and that's Weasley Magic by Amebb42. This author has so many great works worth reading but this fic completely sold me on the Weasley reverse harem structure and inspired me to give other works a try. Plus, it's not based on a werewolf pack. Yes, the smut is smutty which is great fun, however, all of the characters are so well developed in this massive ensemble work. The Molly bashing-to-redemption is one of my favorite kinds of family angst and there are more relationships beyond Hermione + all of the Weasley siblings that adds delicious complexity to the story. Most importantly, the world mechanics, especially when it come to the Wizengamot, the inherited Weasley family magic itself, and Bill's new status is so, so interesting! I live for this fic . - - - - As For All The Other Hermione x Weasley Family Member Ships: You'll note from my post "Nobody Asked For This: My Rankings of the Hermione x Weasley Ships With REASONS" I don't consider myself well-read in ships with Hermione/Ginny or Hermione/Ron or some of the other family members, so no recommendations at this time. If you have recs, please share! I'd love to know what I'm missing out on or what your fave works are for different pairings.

Don't forget to check out the newest fic, Ranking the Weasleys on AO3!

[solarsimblr]

Sorry if I overlooked it, but do you have a list/wheel posted somewhere for the events you're using in your Emerald Pine series? You've inspired me to try my own version for the Sims 4 but my lord, there's a lot to go through when getting started lol I think my brain might explode.

Hey! I've pretty much been using a combination of these two lists, with just minor edits. I put all the challenges I liked into one big list and updated the weightings so that major events are still relatively rare. More recently, I discovered @kayleigh-83's wonderful list and I'll probably incorporate some of her scenarios soon too!

I know a lot of people use this ROS program to randomize events, and that's definitely the easiest way to get started, since the lists I linked above are all already formatted for it! Personally, I had/have too much free time and wanted something more customizable, with integrated dice rolls, so I created my own randomizer using Perchance. I'd share the link, but I played around too much and the UI is a mess right now 🙈 Perchance is fairly user-friendly, though, so I highly recommend it if you're interested in that sort of thing! 😊

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex Episodes

It has come to my attention that Hudson and Rex episodes are not easily accessible to a lot of people, despite it being broadcasted in many countries. I was looking for a place to archive the episodes myself in good quality as a backup but up until recently, the 1080p rips were huge so it was an impossible feat. I finally found some mkv ones that are not as ginormous as the others, and I'd like to share them with the fandom.

Disclaimer: I did not do these rips or the transcoding. I haven't checked the episodes one by one to see if there are any faults with them, just a few as random tests, I also watched a few, and they were all good, subtitles were working and in sync, etc.

What you need to know before downloading:

The files are in mkv format and Mega, the host I've uploaded them on, does NOT have a player to play MKVs online. The links are for downloading, or alternatively transferring to your own Mega account, not for online streaming.

The video codec is HEVC, which is why the size of the episodes is not huge. That might affect some older computers which may not have this codec, though. Read about HEVC here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding and if it's missing, you can add the HEVC codec.

Same goes for your tv if you choose to play them in one (although you probably can't add the codec there). I generally recommend downloading one episode as a test. If it plays in your device, they all should play in that device.

Most of the files have forced English subtitles on them. I am unfamiliar with forced subtitles in general. You may have trouble removing them on a tv, maybe. I've tested them only using VLC on my computer and they can appear and disappear just fine when I choose so like normal subs do. Forced subtitles are not hard-coded subtitles.

Episodes S01E01 - S06E06 were all transcoded by one team as it was a pack, the rest by another, as the first pack was uploaded during this winter hiatus and there was no other upload by the first team for the rest. I only see small differences between the episodes, not worthy of a mention. I've kept the original file names, so you will know when the teams change if you're interested in that (team name is the last input on the title of the file).

The size of all the episodes in total is around 92GB. When you go to download them, each file will also display the size of it.

How to download (skip this if you've downloaded from Mega before):

Even if you have set your browser to ask you where to download the file, Mega will download the file you requested entirely before asking you were to save it. It's how their cloud service works. You don't need to download anything else to get these files, just right-click a file and click Download, and then Standard Download when the submenu opens. You do not need to download the Mega Desktop App, unless you want to download the entire folder at once as a ZIP file. I don't know how many concurrent downloads a free user gets on Mega, or limitations regarding the GBs per day on free users.

Mega suggests users download using Chrome or a Chromium based browser, however downloading the files one by one should work in any browser.

If you have a download manager, just load these folders in it and it will do the job better than your browser.

If you attempt this with a smartphone, then I highly suggest you download the Mega mobile app. I don't think the files will download to your phone otherwise.

Links:

These lead to each season's folder of episodes. Only copy the link below, do not copy the season identifier at the start of each line. Make sure you copy the entire link especially the S4 one which apparently continues in a second line.

S1: https://mega.nz/folder/1ZMTlbpY#DqS2V2KKgeajbINzx8c6Pg

S2: https://mega.nz/folder/kZE1yTTC#p29HrvXgahGXW-0rlzx77Q

S3: https://mega.nz/folder/0Bt3gBJL#hcX7tjU1GScmprTc0nkc0w

S4: https://mega.nz/folder/UQFD3SZZ#nbGJeLzH2IHLVpVFyK750A

S5: https://mega.nz/folder/ARkzUQbS#eS1Yy11x_DEPg3T2bD5ozw

S6: https://mega.nz/folder/lBUFnBwb#WszZvKLzfpRKVvuz5B78Nw

S7: https://mega.nz/folder/kJlEFCLJ#exM6rRVhPtNSULhvsjHWZg

About Season 7 rips: I will upload the first rip that is up so that we won't waste time, this is usually a HDTV rip by the release team SYNCOPY (so basically the episode as seen on tv without ads, usually with the promo, in 720p, no subtitles - subtitles will be added on the same folder in separate link, if any). Later, this will be replaced with 1080p links. Please, check the link periodically to find more links. The goal is to have 1080p Webrips around 1GB for each episode.

Other information:

I'll try to keep the links up as long as I can but I suggest keeping your own copies. Mega does not offer that amount of space for free, so this is a paid cloud service. I'm not looking for anyone to participate on the upkeep but there might be a day when these links will be taken down for any number of reasons. Personally, I don't trust the cloud. Keep local copies of anything you don't want to lose.

If these are reported, I will not be reuploading them and I assume that reporting may also take down my account with them so I will probably also not be able to be a paying customer of their service either way. So, keep the sharing of the links within the fandom. I will not tag this post, but I highly encourage reblogging it to spread the info.

I suggest that anyone who wants to share this with a lot of people should make their own cloud backup. The purpose of me uploading these links is, ironically, not piracy. The purpose is to make the episodes easily accessible to fans.

I will not upload these in other cloud services, if anyone wants to go upload these in google drive, for example, I'm not willing to risk it but of course, anyone else willing to do it is welcome to.

If anyone has questions or concerns, I'll be glad to answer them. Not everyone is familiar with hosting sites, but this is easier than a torrent. I'm sure I've forgotten things which to me may seem simple.

[raccoonfallsharder]

hiii hello! i main rocket in marvel rivals and got curious if someone wrote fics w him, found yours and now I'm absolutely obsessed🫶 you made me fall in love with rocket and the way you write is incredible, i feel so lucky that i still have lots of your fics to read :'3

is there any particular comics involving rocket that you like and/or you'd recommend? i think I've only read like 3 comics in my life lol but now i want to see more of rocket and know the context of some things i read in your fics.

i hope to see more of your writings 🫶 thank you for sharing them to the world 🫶🫶🫶

oh my GOD, nonnie ♡♡♡ i am so glad you're enjoying marvel rivals ~ and i'm so grateful it brought you to the fandom lol. thank you for the kind words, and for reading my silly stories! it truly means so much that you would come here and let me know, and i really appreciate it ♡♡ also, i love questions in general, but this is one of my favorite kinds of questions. thank you for asking!

a suggestion: if you are gonna binge-read and don't particularly care about having the physical comics in your hands, i highly recommend getting the Marvel Unlimited app (it's about $10 USD a month, i think). it's not always super-intuitive but i do believe all of these comics are on it! that said, i do have a lot of the comics in the first list in hardcopy because the art is ♡♡♡

I am also hoping some of the other folks out here will weigh in with their favorite recs (@mrwolfhare comes to mind as someone who has excellent insight into the best Rocket arcs and i would say like... an encyclopedic knowledge of the comics).

Here are some of my absolute faves though, in order from my most favorite to my least favorite (they are still all my favorites though):

Rocket Raccoon: Grounded. Rocket Raccoon (2016-2017) by Matthew Rosenberg and Jorge Coehlo. Prior to this arc, the Guardians come to Earth to assist with the evil du jour. Their ship ends up getting destroyed and they get into a fight, resulting in all the Guardians going their separate ways. This is Rocket's story of being grounded in New York City.

Rocket: The Blue River Score. Rocket (2017) by Al Ewing , Adam Gorham, etc. During (yet another?) fight amongst the Guardians, Rocket goes off on his own to sulk and runs into an old love interest, who cons him into getting involved in a classic heist.

Rocket Raccoon Vol. 1: A Chasing Tale. Rocket Raccoon (2014-2015) by Skottie Young and Jake Parker Rocket is hunted haunted by his past. This comic has some of the most beautifully-colored art and is just....fucking fun.

Rocket Raccoon Vol. 2: Storytailer. Rocket Raccoon (2014-2015) | by Skottie Young, Filipe Andrade, etc. Groot and Rocket recount some of their old adventures. This collection contains one of my favorite short arcs, The Cold.

Groot Groot (2015) by Jeff Loveness, Declan Shalvey, etc. Obviously, this comic is more Groot-centered than Rocket-centered but it's my favorite comic of all time and I still highly recommend.

Rocket Raccoon and Groot Vol. 1: Tricks of the Trade Rocket Raccoon and Groot (2016) by Skottie Young, Filipe Andrade, etc

Rocket Raccoon and Groot Vol. 2: Civil War II Rocket Raccoon and Groot (2016) by Nick Kocher, Michael Walsh, David Lopez.

in no particular order, i'd also recommend the following comics. (tbh a lot of times the other guardians bore me, and the gotg-ensemble comics below don't focus as heavily on rocket as i might like, but they do contain good rocket moments!)

Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) 1-12 by Donny Cates, Al Ewing, etc.

Guardians of The Galaxy: Then It's Us Guardians Of The Galaxy (2020-2021) by Al Ewing, Juann Cabal, etc.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians of Infinity Guardians of the Galaxy (2015-2016) by Dan Abnett , Carlo Barberi, etc.

Star-Lord: Annihilation - Conquest Annihilation: Conquest (2014) by Keith Giffen, Nic Klein, etc.

Captain Marvel Vol. 2: Stay Fly Captain Marvel (2014-2015) by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marcia Takara, etc.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1: Grootfall & Vol. 2: Grootrise Guardians Of The Galaxy (2023-2024) by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, etc.

[literatureloverx]

The Fairest One of All, our dear Snow White,

How have you been since we last spoke? What have you been up to? I hope you are in perfect health and good spirits! Are there any new fixations, things you've learned, or anything new you've experienced lately? I'd be happy to listen to you. :}

I am sending you lots of virtual hugs, cyberbullying you with my love. o( > ᗜ < )o ₊˚⊹♡ May your every day be a pleasant one. Knowing you, please remember to put yourself before others. You have a big heart, but even she needs to be attentively cared for, as you do for everybody else. You are so precious, Snow. I hope you know that. 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

I am aware I didn't write much to you for a while. I thought I was asking you too many questions, but I think you've answered them all already (I don't even remember them myself, so feel free to delete them if any are left). It's not easy to stay away from you. 😣 You have such a magnetic presence and a warm nature. But I don't want to overwhelm you or myself, as I believe everything is better in moderation. Let's say I'm trying to become more balanced with my interactions; I hope I'm not messing it up. I will be keeping it slow, writing once in a while. Also, I feel like it must be exhausting for you at times to reply to everyone and everything intently. Or I’m overthinking. As a fellow introvert, I guess you could have a larger social battery than I do.

I've been seeing many different and interesting anons join our cult family, and it makes me genuinely very happy!! I like reading their writing and your answers; they're stimulating. By the way, for the anon who was looking for some Fyodor fanfic, I'll recommend @/theonlyqualitytrash's blog. She writes truly amazing stuff; it was love at first sight for me to read her writing. And she's also one of the most kind and understanding people I've met here. So, I highly suggest it if they want to read something slightly long but well-structured and creative. 🥺 Speaking of cults, she has also written cult!Fyodor x reader. I don't know why I am loving this particular theme.😭

Ahem anyways—

To be honest, I know very little about astrology. Even though I myself don't really believe in it, it's fun to talk about it or to look on the internet to see what happens to match you according to your zodiac sign. It also seems like something you're interested in, and since the topic came up, I'm going to throw you some questions if that’s okay:

What are your thoughts on each zodiac sign? How would you rate your compatibility with them in general?

I'm definitely not asking because I want to see what you feel about my own sign

Sincerely yours,

-Berry

I’ve been doing fine, my dear. How about you? ♥️

I don’t have any new fixations, as my fixations tend to be very long-lasting, often lasting for multiple years.

Recently, I dreamt of a random lion on the beach, which led me to pester my brother into watching the first Narnia movie with me again because I enjoy watching movies with a companion.♥️

He agreed, but then put it off for several days because “he had things to do” (which really meant he wanted to game with his friends instead lmao). Anyway, I waited for two more days and ended up watching it alone. He randomly walked into my room, saw me watching it by myself, and got all pouty about it (serves him right, if you ask me, haha).

Thank you so much for “cyberbullying me with your love.” I’m bullying you back with my love too. ♥️ I truly appreciate your kind words, my dear Berry. Thank you, I’m doing my best! ♥️

You’re not overwhelming me, and as you’ve probably noticed, I answer asks when I feel comfortable and when I have the time. Feel free to send whatever you wish, and I’ll answer them gradually whenever I can. ♥️ Your compliments are incredibly heartwarming, but I think you might be seeing me as someone more superior than I actually am—I’m just a normal human being, like anyone else on here. You can always write to me whenever you’d like!

Children, give @theonlyqualitytrash ‘s blog some love. It definitely deserves more likes. ♥️

I’m aware that you read my astrology-related post, where I (jokingly) ranked each zodiac sign, so I’m guessing your question is more compatibility-related this time? I hope that’s okay.

I’ll consider other aspects that might theoretically be compatible with me because… I’m not someone who goes around asking people about their birth charts. So I can’t really base this on personal experience.

I’ll also take into account other aspects, not just the Sun sign, like the Moon sign (because it reveals emotional compatibility), the Venus sign (because it shows how we express love and affection), and the Mercury sign (because it relates to communication styles). I could take more aspects into consideration, but I need to keep this friendly for the people reading who aren’t as into astrology. I hope you have fun reading this! ♥️

Don’t take this too seriously (I stereotyped every single placement haha).♥️

Aries

Sun: I never had any good experiences with them… I’m sorry. It’s a no for me.

Moon: Okay, so with my Moon sign being in Libra, and Aries being Libra’s opposite/sister sign, I’ve heard this could be a good match for me. However, I have no personal evidence to support this. I do see the potential, though.

Venus: Again, Venus in Scorpio is supposed to be compatible with Venus in Aries. I’m not against it, I suppose?

Mercury: An absolute no from me, I’m sorry. What do I gain by communicating with someone who is as impulsive as an immature child? Nothing, dear children. Nothing at all.

Taurus

No need to dissect in sections. I love Tauruses in all shapes and forms, haha. (Tone down that stubbornness though, I’m begging you.)

Gemini

Sun: They are fun to be around. I like them, but the likelihood of me committing to a deeply rooted friendship or a romantic relationship with them is highly unlikely. (Unless it’s Dazai, of course. Lmao.)

Moon: A fellow Moon in an air sign. I see the potential— it could work.

Venus: Uhm… no… (We would be “you don’t own me” x “but you belong to me” haha.)

Mercury: I imagine this placement to be rather flaky, with a hyperactive communication style, which doesn’t resonate with my love to dig as deep as possible when talking about interesting topics.

Cancer

Sun: I’m optimistic. It would likely work… as long as it’s not someone who is overly, stereotypically emotional.

Moon: I’m not entirely sure, but why not? Libra and Cancer might not match directly, but I think it aligns well with my Scorpio stellium overall.

Venus: Theoretically speaking, this could definitely work. In fact, it might even feel magical.

Mercury: I think this is a great placement compatibility-wise. We could have fascinating, deep-dive conversations.

Leo

Sun: From a theoretical standpoint, it’s not a great match for me. You’re not everyone’s sunshine—you’re supposed to be my sunshine. Tch. (Though I’d probably choose the moonlight over the sunlight anyway, but that’s beside the point.)

Moon: This could actually be a good match. The thought intrigued me as I was considering it.

Venus: YES. (I love generous people.)

Mercury: To be or not to be… that is the question. In this case, Mercury Leo’s are not compatible with me.

Virgo

Sun: Theoretically speaking (yes, you’ll be hearing this often), we should get along well.

Moon: Did you lose your feelings when you were born? Quite restrained, aren’t they? Haha, just kidding, of course. In fact, I do like them.

Venus: Please no…🥺

Mercury: I find this placement rather intriguing! I can imagine us spying on people together, hahaha.

Libra

Sun: I love them as my friends. They’re so comfortable to be around, but I don’t necessarily see it as a good romantic match. However, it really depends on their other placements. For example, I could handle a Libra Sun-Scorpio Moon combo well.

Moon: My Moon-twins. ♥️ I feel like this is a very good match! We’d just be vibing together, haha.

Venus: The sign is in the right placement. For me, it would be okay… but would it be okay for the person with that placement? As a friend, yes. As a romantic partner, probably not.

Mercury: This placement seems like a very balanced form of self-expression, which I appreciate. I imagine people with this placement tend to be soft-spoken.

Scorpio

Sun: We get along very well, so it’s a definite yes from me—both platonically and romantically.

Moon: I’ve never met anyone with this placement, but I think I could handle the intensity well and even balance it out.

Venus: To whoever has this placement—same here. I know it’s rough. Let me give you a hug. Overall… YES. (Let’s be possessive of each other. ♥️) As an aside, the Libra friend I’ve mentioned also has this placement, and even in a platonic relationship, it’s amazing. I can only dream of a romantic one.

Mercury: Again, we’re one of a kind. Which I like. So, yes, again.

Sagittarius

Sun: Haha. In the most loving way possible: no. ♥️ —at least in the romantic sense. To be honest, we really don’t have much in common platonically either.

Moon: I’m not sure…

Venus: As a friend, probably fine. As a romantic partner, a definite no for me. My Scorpio stellium does not vibe with this pairing—sorry!

Mercury: Sure, why not? I’d love to have philosophical discussions with someone who has this placement. I hear they have fascinating views.

Capricorn

Sun: It’s said that Capricorn is one of the zodiac signs that pairs well with Scorpio. I can see the potential.

Moon: I’m not so sure about this one…

Venus: I think this could be a great opportunity. To be more precise, I see it working.

Mercury: YES. The cut-throat, borderline brutal style of communication because they want the best for you? Just yes.

Aquarius

Sun: YES.

Moon: My brother has his Moon in Aquarius… I’d likely avoid it if I can, haha. I may not be overly emotional, but I do sometimes need guidance. I’d probably expect that more in a romantic sense. However, as a friend, this placement is great!

Venus: Again, as a friend, very great.

Mercury: This is an excellent placement, in my (very biased) opinion, haha. I do love the intellectual tone and expression of Aquarians, particularly Mercury Aquarians.

*Malicious giggle because you wanted to know what I think about your sign, but I knowingly put it at the very end. Hehehe.*

Pisces

Sun: You have all failed me up until now, dear Pisces. It’s only going well with one of your fellow Pisces so far (and you too, of course, my dear berry). Her cardinal-sign shenanigans of not being able to control her emotions whenever they bubble up can still be frustrating, but I’m managing. Overall, as a friend—platonically, a maybe and an okay. Romantically, an ABSOLUTE no. (With all due respect, of course.) Also, I’d like to add: Pisces men have it rough in this world. Bless them.

Moon: My friend—the Libra one—is a Pisces Moon, and it works perfectly in this specific combination. Platonically speaking, I love this placement, and we’re very compatible.

Venus: Theoretically speaking, we should be compatible. But somehow, I don’t believe in this. I think it’s because most Scorpios like to be the lead and the dominant type (whether in platonic or romantic relationships), while this isn’t the case for me. I can’t treat my man as a princess—I’m very sorry. Other Scorpios love you, though, I’m sure.

Mercury: We’re likely compatible, but I wouldn’t enjoy it. Again, I don’t like to lead conversations or lose rationality in discussions altogether. I can handle it for a while, but at some point, it might get exhausting. The intuition-based conversations could be a plus, though.

[littlewigglers]

hi!!! you dont have to answer this but a few months ago (august) i got a Giant Gold Millipede (Orthroporus ornatus) and I'd love to know what you do to have a vivarium like I've seen in your posts!

Also, is she going to be alright if I get another millipede, or springtails, or put isopods inside? I haven't honestly seen much information, and I'd love to be pointed towards some sources or get advice directly! Thank you :)

Here's Sisyphus and her tank! There's a vinegar trap in the corner to catch fruit flies (if theres a solution for that let me know, but i know the decaying material and the moisture is going to attract them), a tray where I usually put her food, and a toilet paper roll for her to curl up in. She's dug a handful of tunnels as well. There's a heating pad to keep it Somewhat Warm on the left side, especially since she's right by the back door and against an outside wall.

I usually feed her twice to four times a week, or when I notice she's lost interest in her current food. I try to water her every day, but sometimes I do a more heavy spray if I miss one.

Hey there first off love Sisyphus, give her a kiss for me on her little head.

To answer your questions I'm gonna bullet point them to keep myself right.

Springtails are a tanks best friend, completely harmless to your pets and they help keep any mold down, highly recommend getting a culture of them. I personally just keep them in my tanks but a friend of mine has a separate tank he keeps a a back up culture of them in encase the tank ones die out.

I'm mixed on keeping isopods in with Millipedes. They're always in my tanks because I just can't get them out and they don't seem to do any harm but after a few months they always end up over running my tanks and I have to clear them out. They're also know to eat eggs so they're a real pain if you're trying to breed your millipedes. If you really want some I'd recommend a slower breeding species of them. Those seem to be the little armadillo ones, the ones that can curl up all cute.

I could get your millipede another little millipede friend, they do seem to be more active when I've had more than one together, even if it's just the same species which is always the safest bet. If you do want to get another but different species make sure they have the same needs in terms of space, soil, temp, humidity and food.

As for the flies and tank

I use fly trap stickers, the ones you'd put on your window in my tank. It might sound dangerous for the Millipedes but you can either put it on the top of the tank or cut it up into smaller part. Also with my bigger species they literally treat the stickers like a buffet and have no problems walking over the surface of them with their feet. It goes without saying but no NOT get any chemical traps for them.

I'd say the key thing you're missing from your tank is hids and places to climb, you've lots of nice pieces of wood scattered about but nothing lifted up to make a little 'cave' as well as something to climb over. Cork bark is the go to most people use, I also have some pretreated drift wood I got from an aquarium store in mine as well. Careful though! if you give them things to climb make sure the tank is escape proof.

Just something I noticed myself, make sure to check under the moss now and again to make sure the soil itself is staying a nice leave of damp but not too wet. I've had mine get dry when the moss looked wet before.

If you've the funds I'd suggest getting a little timer plug for the heatmat to 1. make sure the tank doesn't get over heated 2. to save some electricity.

I personally don't mist every single day as an overly humid tank isn't always great for a millipede depending on the species. They can end up with leg rot if there the tanks kept too wet.

Other advice I can give

Remove food from the tank after a few days for sure. It stops mold from happening and also helps stop any smell building up

Try not to let the food sit in water, I see you have a little dish for it and it will easily collect water and just makes the food kinda mold faster and stink.

The paper tube you have is also just another thing than can get mold on it, you'd be better off removing it I think.

If you add wood to the tank to use as hides made sure to check on it now and again for mold.

You're probably getting the theme of this now but NO MOLD!! Make sure to check the tank for mold now and again, it's not good for your little guys.

As for like links and resources I buy all my stuff from local reptiles stores so I can't really help much there with links of sites, I also don't DIY any of my stuff from like the ground either so I can't give tips on that either. Only thing I can really help with is I have an exo terra tank, I got it second hand and you'd be really surprised what you can get second hand either on local buy and sell groups, facebook market place or even just being cheeky and asking reptile stores if they have any old tanks that aren't fit to sell on shelves anymore. I got mine as a reptile store heavily discounted because someone had got something stuck on the doors and they jam a little now and have a mark on the front.

I THINK that's everything I can think of, hope it helps.

[wings-of-ink]

Hello Lunan :D

I know that Interactive Fiction and writing a book is not really the same thing but it goes hand in hand because it still is writing without the coding.

I wanted to ask if you had a few tips on how to improve? Because god really gave me the talent of writing but not the passion

Hello dear!

I know just what you mean. They are different modes for sure but have similar souls. I have written one novel before but it is currently unpublished. The plan is to edit it this year and release it at some point though.

I'm no expert, and I think passion probably drives my process, but I have a post here where I broke down how I work and such that you might find helpful.

If you don't have a passion for writing but know you do it well, I'd maybe look for topics/subjects you're passionate about or at least enjoy to fuel your endeavor instead. Not to say that you can't write without a specific passion, it just helps with the motivation and follow-through if you're striving to improve.

And the best way to improve is to do. After a long hiatus from writing anything for years and years, I started back up writing some short stories and a bit of fanfiction just for fun! That all worked up into a novel and then an IF.

I'd also highly recommend if you don't already - read everything you can find as you're able (IFs, comics, novels, anything). Sometimes reading things out of my normal interests or even works that are still unrefined can broaden my perspective. Even if it just teaches me something that I don't want to do in my own writing, I find it to be time well spent.

I hope this helps a bit! If you'd like to add to this or ask additional questions, please let me know! ^_^

[fallowhearth]

Book Review - Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

A fun but undemanding heist novel which ended up being the right kind of palette cleanser following my recent reading. I found the first third to be a bit underwhelming, as I wasn't really gelling with the character voices, but it picked up significantly through the middle and stuck the landing.

The setting is quite interesting, and is one of the rare cases where magic is taken seriously as both a technology and as part of an economic model. While it wasn't the main focus of the story, I enjoyed the moments where scientific advances proceeded from a need to solve technical problems in magical item development. It takes place in the metropole of an explicitly colonialist society whose economics rely on the exploitation of subjugated people/lands. All of this was portrayed fairly accurately in my opinion, even if the narrative did not dive particularly deep. You get the impression well thought out, coherent worldbuilding, even if it is only being lightly surfaced.

The cast of characters were perfectly likeable but unfortunately landed a little flat to me. The main character, Sancia, had the misfortune to fall into an archetype that I'm personally a little tired of. Emotionally-repressed highly-competent hard-done-by teenage lesbian thief. It sounds niche but it's surprisingly common. Though to the book's credit, the budding romance between Sancia and her prospective love interest was refreshingly forthright. There was blushing but blessedly little. And they moved past that with clear communication. So small mercies. It's not the kind of story shape to call for deep nuanced characterisation, so the cast do their job.

This might be another personal issue, as I've read a lot of this kind of story, but I did find the reveals and twists to be a little delayed - I'd worked them all out well in advance of the characters, both on an overall plot and scene-to-scene level. I wonder if other readers experienced the same, or if it was just right for a younger/newer audience.

Overall, would recommend, as long as you're going in with calibrated expectations. I definitely don't regret reading this and will pick up the sequels.

[templeofbugsnax]

Intro post!

[cue 'You're The Journalist!']

Who are you?

A longtime bugsnax fan - I got into it not long after release - and a longtime dabbler in the religious, spiritual and occult. You can call me Acolyte, and I prefer he/him and they/them pronouns.

What do you do here?

On this blog, I'm developing and sharing my own personal journey and experiences with worshipping and working with Bugsnax as a pop culture pagan practice. I'll be talking about rituals, prayers, offerings and the like, and the day to day business of being a snak worshipper. To my knowledge I'm the first to do this (genuinely, please prove me wrong!) so I'm really building this practice from the ground up, so I'm also looking to communicate with others on the same or similar paths and find inspiration.

What is pop culture paganism?

Pop culture paganism is working with and/or worshipping entities from pop culture as a spiritual practice. That's the basics of it, but it can mean a lot of different things to different people. I recommend reading around.

What are Bugsnax?

Bugsnax are creatures from an excellent game by Young Horses - they are chattery, googly-eyed bugs that look and taste like food, but better. I highly recommend playing the game (or watching it) before you read too much of my blog, or really much more of this post - as well as in general, but of course I'm biased. It's probably available for your platform of choice and well worth your money.

That doesn't seem very worshippable. What are Bugsnax really?

Bugsnax are shape-shifting, mind-altering parasites, and are the motile, edible part of a vast hivemind known as Snaktooth Island (and its smaller, connected sister, Broken Tooth Island). They reproduce by turning the flesh of creatures that consume them into snakmatter until they are entirely bugsnax, at which point they disintegrate and join the hive. It is strongly suggested by canon that the island itself is at least sentient, possibly sapient.

But what are they to you?

To me they are a collective entity significantly larger than a single island on a single planet.

At the least, they are an Interplanetary species in another universe that makes for some powerful symbolism and imagery.

Getting a little funkier with it, I feel that they are a particularly powerful emanation of something very primordial at the heart of nature - the nutrient cycle, predation, symbiosis, decay, creative destruction/destructive creation... And lots more. I intend to elaborate in another, dedicated post at some point about the domains I feel Bugsnax preside over. I'm any case, there is power in that, whether it's real metaphysical power or just personally impactful.

Do you think that Bugsnax are real?

No. Not in the tangible, physical, in-this-universe sense, anyway. Part of the challenge (and fun) of all this is figuring out how to work and worship with them when they aren't physically present to participate.

You contradict yourself a lot.

I do! My beliefs are constantly in flux. I feel no conflict there, though - snax change their forms and behaviours all the time, after all. Plus I'm not really interested in proving the veracity of anything to anybody.

I want to try this too. Where do I start?

The boring, obvious, vague answer that you probably don't want but is nonetheless correct: wherever feels right to you! I'm also very fresh here and only going with my gut. I can't easily give clear answers just yet.

However, if you want to talk about it together, absolutely DM me or send me an ask! I'd love to hear about what you're doing or would like to do.

I have more questions.

Again, don't hesitate to DM or drop me an ask. I'll happily answer just about anything asked in good faith. I might take a little while to get back to you as I like to really mull things over, though.

[commodorez]

Hi! I'm so sorry if this has been asked before, but I'm completely clueless on computers, but I want to learn about them. Any places you'd recommend starting for bare bones beginners? I'm also interested in early-mid 90's tech particularly too. I'm guessing I have to figure out the basics before I can move onto specific tech though, right?

You're really knowledgeable and nice so I figured I'd just ask. Any help at all would be appreciated. Thank you! :]

That's an excellent question, I don't think I've been asked it before in such a general sense. I was raised with the benefit of being immersed in computers regularly, so providing a solid answer may be a bit difficult since for the basics, I never had to think about it.

I had computer classes of various types throughout my school years. We learned how to use a mouse, typing, word processing, programming -- and that was all before middle school. We got proper typing, html, and general purpose computer science courses in middle and high school, and you can bet I took those too. I also have the benefit of a bachelors of science in computer science, so you'll forgive me if my answer sounds incredibly skewed with 30+ years of bias.

The biggest suggestion I can give you is simply to find a device and play with it. Whatever you can get your hands on, even if its not that old, as long as it's considered past its prime, and nobody will get upset of you accidentally break something (physically or in software). Learning about things with computers in general tends to have some degree of trial and error, be it programming, administrating, or whatever -- try, learn, and start over if things don't work out as expected the first time. Professionals do it all the time (I know I do, and nobody's fired me for it yet).

Some cast-off 90s or early 00's surplus office desktop computer running Windows would be a good start, just explore it and its settings. Start digging into folders, see what's installed, see what works and more importantly what doesn't work right. Try to find comparable software, and install it. Even the basics like old copies of Microsoft Office, or whatever.

I recommend looking through the available software on winworld as it's an excellent treasure trove of operating systems, applications, games, and other useful software of the time period. I'd link it directly, but tumblr hates links to external sites and will bury this post if I do. If you're a mac fan, and you can find an old G3 or Performa, there is the Macintosh Garden's repository of software, but I'm not the right person to ask about that.

Some of you might be like "oh, oh! Raspberry Pi! say Raspberry Pi!" but I can't really recommend those as a starting point, even if they are cheap for an older model. Those require a bit of setup, and even the most common linux can be obtuse as hell for newcomers if you don't have someone to guide you.

If you don't have real hardware to muck about with, emulation is also your friend. DOSBox was my weapon of choice for a long time, but I think other things like 86Box have supplanted it. I have the luxury of the real hardware in most cases, so I haven't emulated much in the past decade. Tech Tangents on youtube has a new video explaining the subject well, I highly recommend it. There are plenty of other methods too, but most are far more sophisticated to get started with, if you ask me.

For getting a glimpse into the world of the 90s tech, if you haven't already discovered LGR on youtube, I've been watching his content for well over a decade now. He covers both the common and esoteric, both hardware and software, and is pretty honest about the whole thing, rather than caricaturish in his presentation style. It might be a good jumping off point to find proverbial rabbits to chase.

I guess the trick is to a find a specific thing you're really interested in, and then start following that thread, researching on wikipedia and finding old enthusiast websites to read through. I'm sure there are a few good books on more general history of 90s computing and the coming internet, but I'm not an avid reader of the genre. Flipping through tech magazines of the era (PC Magazine comes to mind, check archive dot org for that) can provide a good historical perspective. Watching old episodes of the Computer Chronicles (youtube or archive dot org) can provide this too, but it also had demonstrations and explanations of the emerging technologies as they happened.

There are so many approaches here, I'm sure I've missed some good suggestions though. I also realized I waffle a bit between the modern and vintage, but I find many computing troubleshooting skillsets transcend eras. What works now can apply to 10, 20, 30, or sometimes even 40+ years ago, because it's all about mindset of "this computer/program is dumb, and only follows the instructions its given" . Sometimes those instructions are poorly thought out on the part of the folks who designed them. And those failures are not necessarily your fault, so you gotta push through until you figure out how to do the thing you're trying to do. Reading the documentation you can find will only take you so far, sometimes things are just dumb, and experimentation (and failures) will teach you so much more about the hard and fast rules of computers than anything else. I'm rambling at this point...

So, let's throw the question to the crowd, and ask a few other folks in the Retrotech Crew.

@ms-dos5 @virescent-phosphor @teckheck @jhavard @techav @regretsretrotech @airconditionedcomputingnightmare @aperture-in-the-multiverse -- anything big I missed?

[randomfoggytiger]

“Touchstone” anon here! First off THANK YOU!! Amazing, amazing meta analysis as always!

Secondly, can you do that again but this time with Mulder and Scully’s relationship after all things?

If you have already written a meta about that please direct me to it. I still have a lot of catching up to do! ♥️ ♥️

I don't think I have, Anon. X(((( The closest meta I have along those lines is my on-going, in-depth Mulder's Alien Baby Baby Trauma series (which you can locate through a hashtag of the same name, Part 1 here)-- but that tackles the unspoken dynamics between Mulder, Scully, their baby, his PTSD, and his reintegration into life more so than their personal relationship (though that will play a role later.)

Hm, I don't think I have anything really deep to add to late S7 romance. Mulder and Scully were vibing post all things-- happy, peaceful, content. On a new wavelength with each other. It's the type of relationship that speaks for itself, hence why I have to resort to S8 to dig up fresh material. ;)))

On the other hand, I think Hollywood A.D. would actually serve as the perfect example of what you're looking for... so, I guess I need to write meta on that episode in the future. XDD In the meantime, I highly recommend this interview wherein David discusses his ideas behind that episode, Amor Fati, The Unnatural, and his other contributions to the series. (And on an entirely separate sidenote, I kind of already tackled Hollywood A.D. in this teeny tiny fic I wrote for Mulder's birthday last year~.)

If you're more interested in S9 and IWTB and Revival analyses, I'd recommend @deathsbestgirl or @thursdayinspace. :DDDD

[hongluboobs]

book reader i have a copy of dream of the red chamber (volume 1) that ive been trying to get through for over a year how do i motivate myself to finish it

I'm recently coming out of a half a year ish period of not reading very much so trust me when I say the lack of motivation comes for us all. I think I have some tips for how to motivate reading in general+ some for DOTRC specifically :)

(Real quick, I assume because you mentioned a volume 1 you're talking about the Hawkes-David translation published by Penguin in five volumes under the name 'The Story of The Stone'. This is the translation I read through, and it's the one I see recommended most to english speakers looking for an enjoyable reading experience, so to any other prospective readers of this novel I HIGHLY recommend reading this translation as opposed to any other ones. I don't know if I need to say this or if it's well-known to seek out that version, but because Hong Lu's canto is coming up I want to make sure anyone interested in reading through the source material can have the best experience possible with it👍)

It's important to remember that reading is a hobby, and the best way to keep going with it is to make it a habit. Unfortunately, this means forcing yourself to read sometimes, but it comes easier the more you do it. The trick is: it doesn't have to be a lot of reading.

The hard part for me is really just picking up the book and starting to read. Normally with books I like to set a goal of a chapter or so per day, but because this book has longer chapters that wasn't always feasible for me, especially if I had stuff to do. But once I had the book in my hands and started reading I would usually go above my goal I had set :)

Last year a lot of my DOTRC reading was done while I was waiting in line for things, getting/eating food, waiting on the bus, or killing time between classes/during boring lectures (I don't know if I'd advise that last one). This is moreso once you get in the rhythm of things, though.

Another tip is sometimes the format is the thing to stop me. I don't know if you're reading from a physical book or an ipad/kindle/etc or a computer or what, but sometimes I read better on my laptop than other things because it's Always Around. Sometimes I don't feel like grabbing a book or I don't have it with me, but my laptop's already open and I'm bored so maybe I'll do a little bit of reading instead of scrolling social medias. Lately, i've been jumping between my laptop and kindle for reading (laptop for convenience, kindle for portability and reading before bed at night) but I've gone between physical books and digital devices before. (If you want the epub versions of dotrc, I'd be willing to share them as well. The only difficulty is page numbers change between reading formats so I can only really switch at the start of chapters or if I skim to where I last was.

Something that saved me while reading DOTRC specifically (as well as other sinner books) was having a place I could discuss/"liveblog" the book. These books can get LONG and the reading experience varies from "really interesting and compelling" to "oh my godddd I do not need 20 pages of Outdated Whale Facts right now". (no offense to Moby Dick. I'm only slandering that one because I read the whole thing and in spite of enjoying it I understand why there are SO many abridged versions around.) It's kind of just the classic lit experience to deal with these types of things, but it's a lot more tolerable to me if you can talk to other people about it.

When I read DOTRC I didn't have anyone else reading with me, but just having a place to tell people about all the things that happen in this book helped me to keep track of events and characters. It also motivated me to keep reading so I could tell The People what happened next. Having someone else read with me would probably have helped as well, but it's hard to sell people on reading a 5-volume behemoth of a novel with so much stuff in it it has it's own field of study dedicated to it.

You can really yap anywhere. I have a channel in my Limbus Discord dedicated to the books so I don't drive everyone insane with my rambling and it seems to have helped some of my friends get through some of the other books as well so I think this method is a pretty solid success? You could also pretty easily do it just in someone's DMs if they're already familiar with the book (this has the bonus of them potentially being able to clarify things for you and help you get a deeper understanding of the book) or even yapping on a tumblr sideblog or empty notes doc or something.

So TL;DR:

Picking up the book is the hardest part. Reading a little is better than not reading at all.

Subjecting your friends to this book will make it easier to keep going :)

Also: for Dream of the Red Chamber specifically: the book starts slow. I don't know how far in you are, but so many people drop it early. I started reading it during a 12-ish hour car ride and that might've been the play because i can see people getting bored during the first few chapters. It definitely picks up though, so trust me when I say it gets a lot easier to read as you keep going. Chapter 5 is an incredibly interesting chapter, and from there I find things pick up and start going faster. (It helps that chapter 5 is pretty relevant for the direction I think Limbus is going to take canto 8 in!) The later volumes were able to go by a lot faster for me than the earlier ones as well.

This is a long ass book, but it's gonna be a while before Hong Lu's canto drops and we get to Witness that Surrender. Or Surrender that Witness. I'm not actually sure. But regardless, you've got plenty of time to get through it, even if you're a slower reader or don't have much time to dedicate to reading. Steady progress is the name of the game for stuff like this.

Worst case, you've killed a bunch of time during the wait for Hong Lu's canto (because oh boy, I have a feeling this one's gonna be a wait) and you are able to gain a better appreciation for canto 8 by understanding some of the nicher bits of how it adapts stuff from the source.

Best case, you really enjoy reading it and end up like a bunch of the Hong Lu fans I know who were permanently changed by reading this book and started reading scholarly analysis of it for fun (or start seeking out every adaptation of it you can find, or read the book 5 times over... I am coming to realize this book does something to people.)

This book is legitimately incredibly good, even outside the context of me reading it because I was very invested in that beautiful cyan freak from a game I like. I might not have been able to get through it without Limbus providing me the push to keep going on days where I really didn't want to read, but it's a legitimate interest of mine now I will seek out information on regardless of its connection to Limbus! Trust me when I say it's worth getting through even if it feels hard or tedious.

(and if it helps- a solid amount of the stuff I feel is most likely to be Limbus relevant happens near the end of the book. There's so much in this book so things that could be relevant are scattered throughout almost all of it, but I've been picking up so many end of the book vibes from stuff we've seen lately. so you've got to get there!!)

[sophieinwonderland]

Hello! So recently I’ve been, yet again, venturing into plural spaces, because of confusion with my own identity as a singlet- or a possible plural.

So I have people in my head. They used to be just voices, but as more time went on and we talked more they started to be more than that. Now they have names- that they or we picked- and different sexualities and different genders than me, and a whole other bunch of differences from me. I even know they look different than me- one looks kind of similar but not identical, and the other two are quite different. One is even a shapeshifter.

But they still seem almost… fake to me. I feel like I’m making it all up because sometimes it feels like I’m just making them say things, even though even now one of them is trying to talk to me. So I guess my question is, is there any way to make them feel more real so I stop doubting? Like ways to visual better or easier ways to allow fronting and the like? Maybe a way I could go into the Inner World or Wonderland (Which I do know we have)?

- 👑🐉 (If Taking These Are Okay)

First, so sorry to have taken so long to get to this. We've had a busy week.

I'd highly recommend reading this article I wrote about how to know if your imaginary friend is sentient. While geared towards tulpas, the test can apply to any "voices" you experience.

A lot of fighting doubt is going to involve keeping track of your experiences and holding onto them later. (Write them down if you need to.) Those things that you just can't explain, that make the idea of "actually, I'm a singlet," seem absolutely silly.

If you're like we were in the beginning, you've probably dismissed the people in your head as figments of your imagination for so long that it's no wonder you would feel like they aren't real. One thing that's important to understand is that this isn't because they're actually fake. But because you've ascribed the trait of fakeness to them.

What you're experiencing, I think, might be a problem of categorization. Imagine that you lived your whole life looking at pink but not having a word for it. Instead, you just call it red.

Whenever you look at pink, all you see is another shade of red.

And I think this is part of what's going on here, and why we tend to doubt our headmates so much.

If you've always identified the actions of these headmates as made up by you, then it's harder to see identify that they're in control themselves and always have been.

Just as you could be looking at the pink but your brain would still interpreting it as another shade of red, you're looking at autonomous self-conscious agents in your brain, but your brain is still trying to convince you that it's all just you.

If you think immersing yourself in a Wonderland would help fight the doubts, I have a list of guides to help with that here:

You may also be interested in pursuing switching and partial possession. This has actually helped us a lot, since I got to the point where I can dispel my host's doubts by forcefully taking control of a hand.

You can also see more possession and switching guides in the Tulpanomicon and test different techniques until you find one that works for you:

Hope these can help! Best of luck to you and your headmates on your journey! Sending my love to you and your headmates! (Be sure to pass it on for me!) 💖💖💖